38 comments:

Anonymous
said...

On the one hand, I do think it's odd that a company is trying to market a special box of Q-Tips "for men", but on the other hand, what the hell is going on with the ridiculously resentful and smug commentary attached to each of these items?

Seems like most men like expressing masculine identity, just like most women enjoy expressing feminine identity. I don't get why that's a problem. Lots of black folks like being black, and like expressing that. But when I see someone wearing kente cloth I don't yell "oh my god, your blackness. is. so. fragile!"

Looks to me like these people are expressing their own fear and hate of masculinity. But that's not surprising, they get taught that in school.

Pink wine blows. It has nothing to do with creating some kind of ersatz masculinity out of whole cloth. Learning to enjoy fine scotch might, or acquiring a taste for fine cigars. Maybe even learning to enjoy baseball. But not liking pink wine requires no social construction.

It's embarrassingly unmasculine to worry about whether a product like lip balm is for men... except that it's not, really, because these things often have added fragrance or color that's supposed to appeal to women. I think the "for men" label is often just a way to say: plain.

I guess I"m having a problem with the idea that this proves masculinity is so fragile.There are QTips marketed for babies, for everyone, and for women. Men were the only ones not directly targeted until these came out.

I don't think this attitude about masculinity and white being "bad" is good for us. It's the hip thing to say, but I don't find it acceptable.

Eight words and a number that prove buzzfeed is already dead, stabbed with a white wench's black eye, run through the ear with a love song, the very pin of their heart cleft with the blind bow-boy's butt shaft.

We used to roast a whole pig in the sand at the beach and have rose with that. The pig was delicious. I don't remember much about the rose except it was a cheap Portuguese whose name escapes me in my old age. Not surprising: the pig's name escapes me too.

My partner is always asking me if my lips are chapped, or if I need a Chap Stick. I stop and think for a minute, and then respond in the negative. I figure most of the time, it is probably one of those things that you can build up a need for. I never have. I do carry spares for her, and tend to buy 10 packs and the like from Sams Club to keep the price down (below a buck each for the named brand because the generic apparently burns her lips). All the women in my life use the stuff (though most can use the generic), and the guys don't. I just chalk it up to female narcissism. Their narcissism used to bother me. Not any more, after realizing that it is probably an evolutionary adaption that aids in the selection of long term mates.

I brought a bottle of Rose wine (along with two darker reds) back from my honeymoon in Spain. It's made at an organic vineyard and winery. It's damn good. But it'll still play second fiddle to the beer this summer. Wine always plays second fiddle to beer.

Now as for plain old Chapstick--if you are going to spend a week outdoors in the desert (as I sometimes do) you'd better carry and use Chapstick. If you don't, the skin on your lips will get deeply sunburned and peel. I know whereof I speak. It's an effective sunblock.

And as I suspect the Drill Sgt. knows, "real" men don't give a flying fig about whether something has a masculine identity or not. Their personal identity suffices.